Born into a family originating from the city of Thessalonica, and of Macedonian descent, Hypatius was the son of Flavius Eusebius, the Roman consul of 347.
Probably through the influence of his sister Eusebia, the wife of the emperor Constantius II, Hypatius was appointed consul posterior alongside his brother Flavius Eusebius in AD 359, while still an adolescent.
[5] Hypatius was still in Antioch when he received notification from the emperor Gratian of his appointment as praefectus urbi of Rome, shortly after the Battle of Adrianople.
[7] During his time as Praetorian prefect he received a number of laws to promulgate, including one from Gratian on 21 May 383, which condemned anyone who converted from Christianity to either Paganism, Judaism, or Manichaeism.
[8] A Christian who corresponded with Gregory of Nazianzus,[9] Hypatius was praised highly by the historian Ammianus Marcellinus, who described him as gentle, placid, upright and honest.